KARACHI, Oct 5: While four of the in-house patients at a government hospital were confirmed to have been suffering from Dengue fever, a private hospital admitted another 12 patients with high grade fever, a dengue symptom, on Thursday.

Executive Director of JPMC Prof Mashoor Alam told Dawn on Thursday that four of the eight patients admitted to the hospital last week were tested for mosquito-borne viral illness and the clinical findings showed them Dengue positive.

Blood samples of two of the four were sent to the National Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad, while samples of two other patients were sent to the Aga Khan University Hospital.

No such patient was admitted to the JPMC on Thursday while blood test reports of the remaining four patients of viral haemorrhagic fever are awaited. Prof Alam said that all the eight patients were showing signs of improvement.

In reply to a question, he said that keeping in view the residential locations of about 19 patients brought to the JMPC over the past 15-20 days, it could be said that they did not belong to any posh area. What we need to carry out is fogging of drugs to kill the mosquitoes in residential areas on a priority basis, the JPMC chief stressed.

Assistant medical officer of the Liaquat National Hospital Dr Shaukat Ali Rajput said that as many as 12 new patients suspected of VHF were admitted to the hospital on Thursday. The number of in-house patients suspected of Dengue fever has now reached 16, whose blood tests are being conducted at a private hospital, which has the only pathological lab for the purpose and takes at least four days to give the reports.

The patients, both male and female of all age group, were brought with the history of high grade fever and bleeding from gums and nose and came from different areas, including PIB Colony, North Nazimabad, Orangi Town, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Malir, Latif Town, Cattle Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, Federal B Area, Sakhi Hasan, Liaquatabad, Model Colony and Jehangir Road.

Dr Rajput said that about 200 such cases had been brought at the LNH since April last and four of them had expired. The latest death was of a male which took place last month.The in-charge of the Isolation Ward of the Civil Hospital said that no new case of the suspected VHF was brought on Thursday. AT present, there are six patients at the hospital whose blood samples have been sent to the NIH Islamabad. They are getting treatment and showing improvement, he added.

A senior media relation executive of AKUH stated that since June 14, 2006, the hospital admitted 59 patients suspected of having viral hemorrhagic fever. Of them, 26 were found Dengue positive while three were Congo positive. In all, six patients died and 53 were discharged.

Referring to the figure pertaining to patients, independent quarters observed that details were not being notified by hospitals and health authorities in an organised manner despite the fact that both the government and health practitioners were under obligation to notify the communicable disease without any delay with all clarity.

Reports suggest that Dengue prevalence issue holds gravity but the health officials both at government and district level are failing to address it properly. They should move fast and realise now that VHF and Dengue are spreading across the city. Underplaying the gravity of the situation may lead to an outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases, said a senior citizen, recalling that an outbreak of Dengue fever was reported in November last as well.

It was further pointed out that cattle pans and stables existed on some amenity plots and the lands along nullahs in many parts of the city. This appeared to be a potential threat to public health because of their being breeding grounds for mosquitoes, said Mr Akhtar, a resident of Federal B Area.

While emphasising on creating public awareness of Dengue fever, Prof Saleem Kharal of JPMC said that every day, new cases were being reported to various hospitals hinting that the infection did exist in all parts of the city.

He stressed the need for immediately controlling the infection before it was too late. This, he said, was possible only through a major campaign aimed at removal of heaps of garbage and clearing of pools of sewage.

He said that mosquitoes were considered the major cause of Dengue fever and various areas of the city were identified as the major source of mosquitoes breeding. The best way to prevent Dengue fever from spreading further was to take special measures to eliminate mosquitoes, he added, and emphasised the need for capacity building of hospitals and other related bodies with regard to timely management of cases and bring down morbidity and mortality rate.

Dr Kharal said that the classical Dengue fever lasted six to seven days with a smaller peak of fever at the trailing end of the fever.

About treatment, he said that the infection was usually self-limited illness for which only supportive care was required. Paracetamol may be used to treat patients with symptomatic fever, while oral intake, especially of fluid, in care of shock supplementation with intravenous fluids, may be necessary to prevent dehydration and significant haemo-concentration. He said that a platelet transfusion was indicated if the platelet level dropped significantly.